Sunday, August 27, 2006

Fred and Charles and Rembrandt

This weeekend, we have another street festival, namely teh Uitmarkt, where all the city's cultural institutions present their programmes for the coming months, at stalls spread around the centre of town. There are a number of podia with music and bands and other activities. The weather yesterday was lovely so we were lukcy and it looks to be just a sgood today.

Fred and I are not exactly culture vultures (although Fred does occasionally get himself a subscription to the opera), so we are not exactly queuing up to buy tickets. However, there were some interesting looking activities coming up, such as an African Film Festival - Reframing Tradition, from 7-16 September in Amsterdam and some other cities. Also, a Moroccan msuic festival in the west of Amsterdam next week. Later a Turkish festival and so on.

Amsterdam is celebrating the 400th birthday of Rembrandt at the moment, with all sorts of shows, musicals, museum exhibitions and the like. Here we are appearing in a Rembrandt painting, as part of the promotion of Rembrandt - The Musical. Dutch peopel like musicals. They used to go to London to see them. However, Joop van Ellende (he of Big Brother fame) has almost single-handedly created a musical industry here in Holland and now they are everywhere. I don't think we have been to one, but maybe there is a first time.

We do have tickets for a cultural performance though and I am proud to say that on 21st September we are going to the world premiere of a new opera called Alzheimer, written by none other than our dear neighbour, Bert Keizer. More about this another day. Today is another day to enjoy the brief respite from the incessant rain.